Fire Effects Portal

The fire effects topic page contains resources and activities related to the study and management of the effect of wildland fire on the environment.

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Fire Effects Information System

The Fire Effects Information System is an online collection of reviews of the scientific literature about fire effects on plants and animals and about fire regimes of plant communities in the United States.

The Assessing Burn Severity project is a JFSP-funded project investigating the spatial variability in fire effects and to explore relationships between burn severity and fuels, fire behavior, local weather, and topography.

The Fire and Fire Surrogates Study (FFS) assessed the effects of fire and fire surrogate fuel treatments, specifically, quantifying the costs and ecological consequences of alternative fire and fire surrogate restorative treatments in a number of forest types and conditions across the US.

FireWorks is an educational program about the science of wildland fire, designed for students in grades 1-12. The FireWorks program consists of a curriculum and a trunk of materials, including laboratory equipment, specimens, CDs, books, and kits of specialized materials for teachers. Content focuses on the physical science of fire behavior, human influences on fire, and fire ecology.

IFIRE University of Idaho Combustion Lab research project quantifying the biogeoscientific and societal impacts of extreme wildland fires from the regional to community scales in the US northern Rockies.

Scientists from the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station and the University of Montana conducted a study in which observed data were used to produce statistical models describing the probability of high severity fire as a function of fuel, topography, climate, and fire weather.

The vision of the World of Wildland Fire is to provide and connect fire science educators and trainers with scientifically solid and peer-reviewed teaching tools and techniques, using state-of-the-art materials, which will be free and accessible to all.

A report by Forest Examiner A.J. Jaenicke of the Bureau of Entomology regarding defoliation of western hemlock and Sitka spruce between Petersburg and Juneau during the summer of 1918. The defoliation was attributed to a sawfly, most likely Neodiprion...

The USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station (PNW) invites applications for a permanent full-time Research Meteorologist (series 1401) / Research Air Quality Engineer (series 0819) positionat the rank of GS-12, GS-13, or GS-14. The position is located at the Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Laboratory in Seattle, Washington and is part of the AirFire Team of the Threat Characterization and Management Program. Applications can be submitted via the USAJOBS website:https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/544454700

The PNW Research Station is one of seven research units in the USDA Forest Service. The Forest Service conducts the most extensive and productive program of integrated forestry research in the world. Scientific information produced by the USDA Forest Service AirFire Team focuses on understanding fire-atmosphere interactions, air quality, and climate with respect to wildland fire. AirFire’s research has application the across United States and in other parts of the world. The Station’s programs reflect the changing character of the questions that science is being asked to help answer.

The scientist will provide expertise to generate knowledge about fire, atmosphere, and chemistry interactions that can lead to better modeling of wildland fire emissions, plumes, and smoke. The knowledge is used to develop and deliver innovative and effective strategies, methods, and tools so people can plan, manage, or mitigate the changes, causes, and consequences associated with fire emissions and smoke.

Personal research assignment: The scientist serves as a fire/meteorology/air quality modeler and as one of four permanent, principal staff scientists with the AirFire Team. The AirFire team works closely together and the scientist is expected to collaborate on team projects within their area of expertise. The scientist is further expected to become the AirFire lead for one or more of the following critical areas of knowledge and research for the team, and participate in advancing the others: fire smoke modeling frameworks and real-time tools; coupled fire/atmosphere/smoke modeling; field work; and remote sensing. In this role the scientist is expected to serve both leadership roles within the team and also to be a national and international resource for the U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, and broader air quality community.

The scientist has roles across all three of AirFire’s problem areas: air quality, meteorology, and climate. Air Quality: The scientist helps lead advancements in atmospheric/air quality modeling, including acquisition and implementation of remotely-sensed data into models. The scientist has a primary role in assessing new satellite products for their utility towards the smoke modeling frameworks. The scientist is expected to participate in and potentially lead field campaigns focused on wildland fire smoke. Meteorology: The scientist works to understand the coupled dynamics of fire-atmosphere and fire-atmosphere-smoke interactions including how these dynamics affect fire behavior and consumption and lead to the development of fire plumes that loft emissions into the atmosphere. Additionally, the scientist works to understand how advances in meteorological ensemble modeling can be applied to fire and smoke and how to codify this knowledge within numeric models and tools. Climate: The scientist, as one of the lead modelers, will assist with development of improved modeling strategies to quantify the above issues and the uncertainty surrounding them in future climate projections.

The scientist is expected to work nationally and to collaborate with the broader scientific community to create specific projects that can advance these goals. The scientist is also expected to engage directly with the management community including land managers, fire managers, and air quality regulators, and to support training of managers in areas related to their individual areas of expertise.

Location: Seattle and its surrounding areas are the major population center for Washington State. It is home to a number of research institutions and universities including the University of Washington, and numerous technical and environmental companies and non-profits. It is an innovative, highly-educated city featuring outstanding schools, diverse cultural centers, many outdoor activities, a thriving arts community, acclaimed restaurants, and a temperate climate. Seattle is served by both the SeaTac International Airport and the Paine Field Regional Airport as well as by train, bus, and ferry services.

A formal education or experience in forestry or a related natural resource profession with an emphasis in forest entomology or pathology is preferred. Experience may be substituted for education and experience if that experience has prepared the candidate to successfully carry out the duties of this position.

The Xi Lab at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, is recruiting 2 highly motivated M.S. student to join the lab as Research Assistants (RAs) starting spring or summer in 2020. Those positions are provided 2 years graduate research assistantships supported by USDA Forest Service Grants.

The Xi lab’s research has been focusing on the impact of forest disturbance (drought, fires and climate change), landscape modeling, geo-spatial analysis, and forest sustainable management. The students will be expected to conduct his/her thesis research broadly addressing forest biomass/carbon dynamics, fire and drought impacts and sustainable management of forests under climate change in east Texas and north California. The students will be expected to make use of forest landscape models, Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data and related geo-spatial climate and soil data for his/her project and the results of the research could support the sustainable management of the forests ecosystems in the regions. Research topics identified as particularly relevant include (1) forest productivity and biomass/carbon dynamics, (2) wildfire effects, (3) insect pest outbreaks, (4) drought impacts (5) climate change, and (6) forest resilience and sustainability.

We seek a sincere, motivated, and creative individual to apply for an exciting PhD assistantship in Forest Ecosystem Dynamics at Washington State University. The successful candidate will work with Dr. Arjan Meddens to examine the spatial and temporal patterns of ecosystem dynamics across the western United States. You will work on highly relevant research which aims to improve ecosystem resilience to future disturbances across the larger landscape under rapidly changing climate conditions. Research topics of interest include: (1) the dynamics of fire refugia and utilization of fire refugia by plant or animal species, (2) spatial and temporal patterns of bark beetle outbreaks, and/or (3) the utilization of high-resolution (UAV) lidar applications for forest measurements. A genuine interest in teaching is required and an interest in natural resource management applications is highly desired. Two-year RA funding is available with more funding possible in year 3 and 4 of the Ph.D. The successful candidate will be housed in the School of the Environment at Washington State University, which has great collaborative faculty with expertise in both the social and biophysical sciences.

The Tingley Lab in Global Change Ecology is joining the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Los Angeles and seeking creative and motivated PhD students to join the lab in the Fall of 2020. Our research utilizes field and biodiversity data to explore how large-scale anthropogenic drivers of change (e.g., climate change, land-use change, fire regimes) affect geographic distributions and community interactions over short to long timespans, from years to centuries. Most of our research explores these topics using birds as the primary study organism.

Potential research areas include: 1) the impact of climate change on birds through shifts in distributions or phenology; 2) the mechanisms that define range limits; 3) the role of wildfire in structuring biodiversity; 4) statistical modeling of distributions and assemblages; and/or 5) using historical data to understand processes of change. Research projects will have opportunities to draw from extensive existing databases as well as collect new field data at current field sites in temperate mountain systems. Enthusiasm, excellent written and oral communication abilities, and strong quantitative skills are necessary. Backgrounds in ornithology, modeling, and statistics are desired.

Air Resources Specialist (Physical Scientist)GS-1301 -13Bureau of Land ManagementAlaska State OfficeAnchorage, Alaska

A new air resource specialist position with the BLM in Alaska is now advertised and posted to USAjobs.gov for three weeks, August 27 to September 18.

This position will be located in the Alaska State Office, Division of Resources, in Anchorage Alaska. The employee serves in a professional capacity as a senior staff expert for air resource activities, providing advice and support to the State Directorate, Deputy State Directors and District and Field Managers. The employee is responsible for the technical adequacy of air resources program development and management, primarily for Bureau Land Use Plans and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) related impact assessments, and serves as an expert consultant in coordinating activities between other agencies, universities, and research institutions.

The air resources specialist supports BLM’s multiple use mission by developing and implementing air resource projects to fulfill the full suite of the BLM activities and use authorizations. In Alaska, these actions and authorizations could include, but are not limited to, energy development, subsistence, recreation, forest management, noise impacts, and smoke management. Additionally, as the only US Arctic state, air quality issues in Alaska are different from the Lower 48 and offer unique challenges.

BLM Alaska is looking for someone with strong experience in conducting and reviewing air dispersion modeling, as well as thorough understanding and experience of technical 'state-of-the-art' advances in air resource and noise impact management. This position will present both challenging and rewarding opportunities in the great state of Alaska!

Since this is the first Air Resource Specialist for BLM Alaska, the incumbent has the opportunity to develop this position and demonstrate its importance and usefulness. The demand for air expertise has been growing steadily in recent years all across the country as well as Alaska, both due to increased workloads and the diversity of air resources related issues.

The purpose of this position is to carry out technical forestry tasks associated with unit goals, goals which contribute to the mission of the Oregon Department of Forestry, as assigned by the Reforestation Unit Forester. Because the Department's highest priority work is a forest fire emergency, this position may be utilized during those emergencies to provide assistance in a variety of ways.

The East-West Center Research Program is seeking to hire a Fellow for a one-year position focused on drought and climate variability in the Hawai‘i/Pacific region. The Fellow will lead a knowledge exchange and technical assistance process with identified partners in the Hawai‘i and Pacific Islands region to co-produce site-specific drought statistics and data products to meet the needs of resource managers.

The Fellow will engage in cooperative research that supports activities to build adaptive capacity to climate variability and change in Hawai‘i and the U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands; improve drought resilience and responses of land managers; reduce wildfire risk; protect threatened and endangered species and important natural resources; and incorporate Native Hawaiian knowledge in management of drought in the region. The Fellow will analyze available gridded climate datasets; work with stakeholders to produce outputs to communicate study findings and project milestones; write scholarly reports; plan, organize, and participate in outreach and communication activities; develop proposals for external funding; and seek opportunities for collaboration within the East-West Center and other partner organizations.

We are seeking a motivated and independent postdoc to advance the state of the art in remote sensing and geospatial data integration in the field of ecosystem ecology. The successful candidate will work with the Landsat and Sentinel archive in conjunction with very high resolution drone acquired imagery to investigate how vegetation and topography govern microclimatic variability in post-wildfire landscapes. The objective of this project is to quantify influences on post-disturbance microclimatic variability and its effects on tree seedling survival. The Earth Systems Ecology Lab (www.hurteaulab.org) is an interdisciplinary group of ecosystem ecologists in the Department of Biology at the University of New Mexico. We work collaboratively to tackle a range of question related to global change and forest ecosystems.

The goal of the Peace Corps Senegal Agroforestry Project is to help individuals and communities to improve the management of natural resources and the environment, ensuring food security in a healthier environment.

To this effect, Volunteers will work to:

Increase the knowledge and appreciation of environmental issues in youth and adults.

Increase the capacity of communities to plant and care for trees in order to increase access to nutritious foods, generate income, and restore and protect land.

Increase the capacity of communities to manage natural resources and the environment in sustainable, healthy, and productive ways.

Nominations are now open for new members of the International Association of Wildland Fires' (IAWF) Board of Directors. Nominations will be accepted through September 30, 2019 and successful candidates will begin their 3-year term on January 1, 2020. Individuals meeting the requirements may self-nominate.

If you manage prescribed burns on Longleaf Pine units, we would appreciate your insights into the factors that influence burning practices.

We, myself and colleagues at the University of South Carolina, will use your responses to better understand the combinations of decision-making criteria and constraints to the use of prescribed burning in LLP management and concerns about future pressures on the use of fire across the LLP range. We will share the report with the Southern Fire Exchange, Tall Timbers Research Center, SERPASS and others interested in forest management. This survey is less than 10 minutes long and all responses are anonymous.

The seasonality of prescribed fire (dormant season vs. late-growing season) can have a tremendous impact on the plant diversity, especially within a prairie ecosystem. Understanding those impacts can help managers determine the correct fire seasonality...

The Four Corners Science, Policy, and Public Lands Symposium will explore in depth how scientists, politicians, and agencies are collaborating on current science policy issues related to land management in the American Southwest, and how this...

In 2008, a small group of landowners and conservation partners from the Blackfoot River valley and around the country gathered in western Montana to discuss aspects of landscape-scale collaborative conservation through public-private partnerships....

In 2019, The Wildlife Society and American Fisheries Society will come together for the first-ever joint national conference of these two organizations. The event will likely be the largest gathering of fish and wildlife professionals ever, and will...

The Idaho Forest Group Distinguished Speaker Series highlights innovation and advancement in natural resources. All the presentations in this two-year long series are complimentary and open to the general public.

This site is amazing and literally unlike any other pine barrens – a 3,000-acre contiguous jack pine heath barrens growing on <3 inches of organic matter on top of a largely exposed sandstone pavement. The understory is a continuous carpet of...

The topic for this year's Forum is 'Burned, Buried, and Flooded: Water Resources Excitement in the Southwest.' The esteemed panelists presenting at the Forum will weave together their unique and varied perspectives on the effects of two back-to-back...

Researchers will present results from a National Science Foundation-funded project studying management responses to Mountain Pine Beetle infestations in the western U.S. This research includes case studies of national forests and surrounding...